Worth the Risk
by EvenSatanLovesUnicorns
Summary: What if Shivam wasn't Taani's fake boyfriend? Originally named 'What If' as posted on another site, but that wasn't doing the trick, hence the new name and location.
1. Rockstar

**A/N: I know, this chapter is abnormally short, and so is the next one, but they're not always like this, I promise, I did this for a reason. Happy reading!**

* * *

Taani nervously looked around, hoping that her plan would work. She takes a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the questions she would be bombarded with in the next couple minutes.

"Rey and I can't be couple because I'm already in a relationship with someone."

Everyone was shocked, but none more than Rey, who was strangely upset. _What the hell? How can Taani be in a relationship with someone? What if... no! Taani cannot be in a relationship with Shivam Dutta of all people_ , he thinks.

"Then tell us who he is!" someone in the crowd shouts.

"Yeah," says someone else, "ee want to know whether or not he actually exists."

"Who are you to question me about my personal life?" demands Taani, shutting them up... or so she thought.

"We just want to know what type of guy our GS is interested in," one of the boys in the crowd tells her, winking. Swayam and Rey were quick to react, hell even Shivam was ready to help them out, but their friends were just as quick to pull them back.

Taani smirks as she continues. "Why? Give me one good reason why I should tell you people about my personal life. All you want is something to gossip about right? The go look through magazines for the latest on celebrities. Which celebrity just got surgery, who's dating who... I'm sure that's much more interesting than my dating life."

"Chill girl! We only asked for a name," says another student. Other students murmur in agreement and also start asking for a name. Taani start to panic and looks around the room for help.

As Sharon was about to get on stage and go into Siren-mode to help out her friend, an unfamiliar voice calls out, "Yeah Taani, tell us!" All eyes were on him, with Rey and friends wondering who the hell he was, and Swayam and Vishaka confused as to what he was doing here.

"Okay fine," the guy continues, "if you don't want to tell everyone, then I will. I'm Taani's boyfriend, and if anyone has a problem with that, please don't hesitate to keep your mouths _shut_."

Everyone's taken aback by this guy's authoritative attitude, an attitude that only Reyansh Singhania could match. The crowd disperses, with guys dragging ogling girls away from the scene. The D3 gang is confused by the boy's appearance, especially Swayam and Vishaka, who happen to know the stranger.

They're all broken out of their trains of thoughts when Taani walks over to the guy. Rey's hoping for a kick, a punch, a slap... even a lecture will suffice. But what Taani does next shocks him.

Taani smiles at the boy, and gives him a tight hug.

"Hey Rockstar! Did you miss me?"

* * *

 **A/N: Alright, so, that's that. Hope I didn't completely waste five seconds of someone's life.**


	2. Rockstar (cont)

"Of course I missed you you idiot!" exclaims the boy introduced as 'Rockstar.'

Taani's mouth goes wide, an offended gasp being let out as she starts hitting her best-friend with her bag. "Varun, did you just call me an idiot?"

"Well, I can't exactly respond unless you stop hitting me."

"No, keep hitting him!" shouts Swayam.

Taani and Varun turn to Swayam in shock. "Bhai?"

"Swayam, what kind of a best-friend are you?"

"What kind of a best-friend am I?" Swayam takes Taani's bag from her and starts to Varun with it. "You asshole, what kind of a friend are you? Why didn't you tell me that you guys were dating?"

Taani and Varun look at each other, and then burst out laughing. Swayam looks at them, confused. Noticing her brother's expression, Taani stops laughing. "Bhai, do you seriously think that I'd ever date this idiot?"

Rey feels a strange wave of relief wash over him as he hears these words leave Taani's lips.

"What do you mean?" asks Swayam.

"What she means is, we're not really dating."

"What?!" everyone except Varun and Taani demand.

"Calm down guys, let me explain. I was freaking out and I didn't know what to do, so I called Varun and asked him to be my fake boyfriend."

"Oh, so that's what happened," says Sharon.

"You could've told us," snaps Rey, biting his tongue right after he does so.

"Sorry, it kind of slipped my mind."

"Having a fake boyfriend slipped your mind?" yells Rinni.

"A little louder Rinni," hisses Vishaka, "I don't think Canada heard you!"

"Ah Vishaka," mutters Varun, "charming as always I see." Taani elbows him in the ribs, and glares at him.

"Well, whatever," says Vicky. "All out problems have officially been solved."

Nilesh nods in agreement. "I know, I kind of want to party."

Simmi rolls her eyes. "You always want to party."

Before anyone else can say anything, the peon walks towards them. "VP sir has called the GS, AGS, CS, and ACS, to his office."

Taani, Rey, Swayam and Sharon look at each other in confusion before following the peon to VP sir's office.

"Thank you all for coming," says VP sir, as the four members of student council come into his office and stand before him. "Finally all this drama is over. Taani I must say, you handled the situation very professionally."

Taani smiles brightly, happy to help and be rid this problem as well. "Thank you sir!"

"Sir, why did you call us here?" asks Rey.

"Because the college is going to be closed for the next two days due to some small renovations. Please inform all other students about this. That is all."

The four nod before leaving. As they council walk out, the gang and Varun pretend that they weren't listening in on the conversation. Taani simply rolls her eyes.

"Guys, we know you heard everything." Sharon, Rey and Swayam chuckle at this.

"Okay, fine," says Simmi, "since you guys already know that we know, let's talk about what everyone's going to do for the next four days.

"I'll tell you what I'm doing," says Swayam, "I'm going to be spending some much needed quality time with my best-friend and baby sister." With that, he drags said best-friend and said baby sister away.

"Okay, so what are _we_ doing?" asks Amar.

Sharon, ever the eager beaver of a planner, immediately takes charge. "We're all going to my farmhouse, so start packing! We'll all meet at my house tomorrow morning."

Meanwhile, as Taani, Swayam and Varun are heading home in Varun's jeep, Taani asks, "So what's the plan bhai?"

"Well, planning is kind of usually your job." Taani smacks her brother on the arm. Varun starts to laugh, but stops when he sees Swayam glare at him.

"Since you guys are completely useless, I'll tell you what we're doing. We're going to the family farmhouse. We'll invite Aliya because I know for sure that she's free. Bhai and di are both busy, and so are Anya and Arjun."

Swayam nods. "Okay, then we'll just have to check with Karan and Saara."

"Ew, why?" groans Varun. Taani and Swayam look at each other, reminding themselves that they can't do anything to Varun right now since they're inside a moving vehicle, one that he was driving, but he'll pay for that comment later.

* * *

 **A/N: I wish I could say that Varun was my OC, but he's really not. He's a character from a show called 'Best-friends Forever?' and I love him, so I use him in a lot of my stories. The next like, ten characters that I'm introducing are very much mine.**


	3. Here Comes Trouble

"Ugh, why can't you girls ever pack light?" complains Nil, putting a bag in the trunk of Sharon's car.

"Because you boys just throw random things in your bags, while we pack the necessities," Simmi informs him, hand on her hip as she sends him a pointed look.

"Yeah, like the first aid kit," adds Neha.

"No one's going to hurt," Vicky protests.

Vishaka rolls her eyes. "Knowing you morons, you'll probably start a fight the minute you come in contact with another guy."

"Okay guys," says Rey, coming in between them, "let's not start this trip off with a girls versus boys fight."

"Rey's right," says Sharon, nodding in agreement. "That's why the girls are coming with me, and you boys are going with Rey."

"Smart move Shar," Rey mutters under his breath as he proceeds to get behind the wheel.

Meanwhile, Varun was dealing with a similar problem. "Tans, why do all you girls find it so necessary to bring four years worth of things for a four day trip?"

"Because we know how to pack smart, unlike you brainless buffoons."

"Brainless buffoons?"

"Oops, sorry, you're slow as usual. Brainless buffoons is another way to describe the male species."

"Guys, stop fighting!" exclaims Swayam, feeling as though he was dealing with actual children, because he was. "Varun, start the car. Princess, get in the backseat."

* * *

As they're driving to Sharon's farm house, she hears her phone ringing. "Can someone please answer my phone for me?"

Simmi finds Sharon's phone neatly tucked away in her purse, and is more than happy to answer the call when she sees the name on the caller ID. "Oh hey Anya! We're just headed to your farmhouse right now." What Anya says next makes Simmi's eyes go wide. "What do you mean it's being renovated?"

Everyone's eyes go wide at this. Simmi turns the phone off, and Vishaka immediately sends daggers in Sharon's direction. "Didn't you know about this?"

"No, I didn't! Someone call the boys, please."

When the boys meet up with girls, everyone is annoyed. Rey on the other hand, who was already on edge, is furious. "Sharon, how could you be so irresponsible yaar?"

"Rey, I said I'm sorry."

"Rey, stop yelling at her," Bharat states firmly.

Vicky nods his head in agreement to what Bharat had just said. "Yeah, it's not going to make anything better."

"Sorry."

"What are we going to do?" whines Rinni. The gang thinks about what they're going to do, when they hear some familiar voices coming their way.

"Varun, you're such an idiot!" yells Taani.

"You really want to call the guy who's carrying your bags an idiot?"

Swayam looks like he's about to kill them both.

"Hi guys," Amar says awkwardly, trying to gain their attention.

Swayam drops his bags and jumps into Amar's arms at the sight of him while yelling, "Save me!" at the top of his lungs as Varun and Taani's eyes throw daggers at him.

"So, what's your unfortunate story?" asks Vishaka completely ignoring Swayam's theatrics.

" _Someone_ , I won't say who but Varun, forgot to fill up their tank properly," hisses Taani, gritting her teeth.

"Ah!" Vishaka sends Taani a sympathetic smile, ever so familiar with Varun and his gas tank issues.

" _Anyways_ ," Varun cuts in, wanting to take control of the conversation, "where are you guys headed?"

"Well, we _thought_ we were going to Sharon's farmhouse, but apparently it's being renovated," explains Rey, grinding his teeth together in a tight smile.

"Oh, well, we're going to Taani and Swayam's farmhouse. You guys are welcome to join us."

"Are you sure?" asks Sharon.

"Of course!" exclaims Taani. "Besides, we're all just helping each other out! You guys have cars, we have a farmhouse."

"Well, now that that's decided, we only have two seats left in Rey's car -"

Swayamc cuts Vicky off immediately. "Make Taani squeeze in with the girls! Or put her in the trunk! I really don't care. Just don't put her in the same car as Varun. Especially if I'm in it."

"Bhai!"

"I love you, but you're a nightmare." With that, Swayam quickly jumps into Rey's car, while a fuming makes the rest of the car ride hell for the girls as she rants about Swayam's existence, starting from his birth which she referred to as, 'd-day.'

* * *

When they all arrive at the Shekawat family farmhouse, the first thing Taani remarks is, "Oh look, there's Karan's car."

"Who's Karan?" asks Rinni.

"Our friend," replies Swayam. "Who I think also brought Aliya and Saara with him."

"Who?" asks Simmi.

"My lovely twin sister, and the creature from the deep," explains Varun. Swayam and Taani both smack him upside the head for that comment.

The minute they step inside the house, they hear a girl scream, "Bhai!" at the top of her lungs. The girl jumps into Varun's arms, her dress fluttering as he spins her around.

"I missed you Angel," he says, putting her down, the biggest smile on his face.

"So I'm guessing that's is Aliya," remarks Neha.

"You guessed right," Swayam informs her, as walks over to his best-friend, giving her a tight hug.

And if it got any tighter, Sharon would most definitely explode.

"Hey Romeo," says Aliya, pulling away from the hug.

"Okay, why am I always the last person to get a hug?" whines Taani, crossing her arms over her chest.

Aliya chuckles as she give her best-friend a hug. " I missed you the most!"

"Liar! You missed bhai the most." Aliya turns slightly pink at the statement, biting her lip, a gesture which only Taani and Sharon seemed to notice.

"Hey, remember us?" Vishaka's voice rings out.

"Oh right, we completely forgot! Guys, this Aliya," says Swayam, then proceeding to point to each one of his friends as he introduces them, "and Aliya, these are our friends Rey, Sharon, Simmi, Rinni, Neha, Vicky, Bharat, Nilesh, Amar and Vishaka."

"Nice to meet you all."

"Yo, what are we, chopped liver?" Everyone turns to see a petite girl walking towards them with a tall boy trailing behind her.

"Saara and Karan?" asks Simmi.

"Yup," replies a slightly displeased Varun.

Taani groans. "Ugh, does this mean that I have to re-introduce everyone to you guys?"

Karan rolls his eyes, biting back a smile. "No you lazyass, we heard when you were introducing Aliya."

"Thank god!"

"So, what are we doing tonight?" asks Rinni.

"I don't know, anyone have any ideas?" asks Sharon.

Taani, the resident planner of the group, asks, "Karan, isn't your brother's nightclub around here?"

"Oh yeah! We can totally go there. It's maybe a half hour drive away, so if we want to get there before the club closes, the girls should get ready."

Cue death glares from all the girls in the room.

"I'm sorry, _girls_?" says Saara. "What about you boys?"

"We don't take five hours to get ready like you girls," Varun points out.

"What?" demands Taani. "We don't take five hours to get ready!"

Sharon nods her head in agreement. "Yeah, maybe Simmi and Rinni, and even Neha can take ages to get ready, but that doesn't mean that all girls take a long time to get ready."

"Yeah, Sharon only takes half an hour, and I take fifteen minutes," adds Vishaka.

"Same with me and Saara," says Taani. "Only, Aliya takes two hours to pick out an outfit, and then an hour to find matching jewelry, and then another hour for shoes and a purse, then another half an hour for hair and makeup... but it only takes her forty five minutes to get ready."

"Only forty five minutes?" asks Rey, feigning surprise.

"Shut up."

Swayam, the resident voice of reason of the group, cuts in, "Whatever guys. We're going to leave in an hour or so _everyone_ needs to hurry up and get ready. I'm looking at you and your intensive hair care routine, Reyansh Singhania." That earned Swayam a smack upside the head from his best-friend as they all head over to change.

"Well this is a colorful room," remarks Rinni, as she, Simmi, Aliya, Vishaka, and Saara walk into the room.

"Well, it might be a guest room, but it's unofficially my shared room with Saara and our friend Anya," explains Aliya.

"Anya? Why does that name sound so familiar?" Simmi wonders out loud.

Aliya smiles brightly, like a proud mother talking about her child. "Anya Rai Prakash, the most famous new talent in India right now. You've probably heard of her."

"Well, yeah that, and she's Sharon's cousin."

Aliya's smile disappears just as quickly as it had appeared. "You're kidding."

Vishaka, remembering Aliya's dislike towards Sharon, and Simmi's protective nature of her, quickly butts in to diffuse the situation before it gets out of hand. "Come on guys, let's just get ready." Simmi gives Aliya a strange look, but says nothing.

"Nice save," Saara whispers to Vishaka, walking up to her.

"Thanks."

Both girls are taken aback when they hear Aliya's voice boom, "Um, why exactly aren't you guys getting ready?"

"Well, we don't exactly have club wear," Vishaka informs her.

"Yeah, neither of us really thought to bring a dress," adds Saara.

Aliya groans, knowing that she should've expected this. "Go to Taani's room you guys, you'll probably find something there."

Meanwhile, as Taani, Sharon and Neha were getting ready in Taani's room, Taani notices that Neha was simply looking at both girls sadly.

"Neha, you didn't bring a dress?"

Neha gives her a sad smile. "I didn't really have one to bring."

Suddenly brightening her mood, Neha adds, "But you look great Taani, and so do you Sharon! Kind of like a modern day Greek goddess come to life."

Sharon smiles happily at Neha. "Thanks Neha. Here, let me see if I have anything for you."

"No, it's fine! Besides, I wouldn't really look good in your clothes, they're not my style Sharon."

"Well, then maybe I have something for you!" exclaims Taani. "Come on, get off your butt and don't say a word!"

Neha turns to Sharon, giving her a pleading look, to which Sharon simply shrugs. After all this time, there are certain situations where Neha simply refuses to break out of her shell, get out of her comfort zone. But with friends like Taani and Sharon, she doesn't have much of a choice.

Twenty minutes of Taani throwing objects out of her closets later, Neha is ready to go!

"Neha, you look amazing!" exclaims Sharon. "Great job Taani."

"I know, I'm a genius." Taani smirks as she turns Neha to face the mirror. "What do you think girl?"

Neha, who had her eyes closed the entire time, slowly opens them one at a time, and stares at reflection.

"Huh, this was not as bad as I expected." Neha had expected an over the top outfit of sparkly dresses, sky high heels and chunky jewelry, much like what Taani and Sharon themselves were wearing, and don't get her wrong, Neha thought that they looked great, it just wasn't her thing. Instead, she was met something much more her style - a simple white dress, sensible heels - well, as sensible as heels can get - and the charm bracelet she already had on. Guess her friends know her better than she thought that they did.

Suddenly, the door to Taani's room is burst open - by Vishaka, who else? - breaking Neha out of her thoughts.

"Okay, Aliya told us to come here because we have nothing to wear."

"So you broke down my door?" demands Taani, eyebrows raised to her hairline, although she shouldn't be surprised since it _is_ Vishaka.

"How else was I supposed to get in?" Taani rolls her eyes, and then sends Saara a pointed look.

Saara simply shrugs, biting back a smile. "I wanted to see what would happen."

Taani sighs, taking a quick second to pick some items out of her closet before throwing them in Saara and Vishaka's faces.

"You're welcome." Vishaka glares as Saara sighs, knowing she brought this on herself, while Neha and Sharon are confused as to whether they should feel amused or uncomfortable by this new side of Taani.

Five minutes later, Vishaka is the first to emerge from Taani's bathroom. Without saying a word, she heads straight for the mirror, pleasantly surprised when she sees the results. "You know, I think I might actually be okay with this."

"Duh, because you look hot!" exclaims Sharon.

Vishaka feels a slight blush creep up her cheeks as she fixes her hair - she wasn't used to compliments. "Thanks Shar."

"Now about your shoes -"

"I don't wear heels."

Sharon groans. "Well you need shoes! Go borrow Rinni's."

Vishaka thinks about this for a moment, then shrugs her shoulders. "At least she has sensible heels."

Saara on the other hand, was not as happy about her look as Vishaka was.

"No way Taani! I look awful." shouts Saara.

Taani rolls her eyes at her friend's theatrics. "Come on Saara, you look great!"

Saara reluctantly comes out of Taani's walk-in closet, only to snap, "No, I look repulsive!"

"You look cute!"

"And I repeat, repulsive."

Taani groans. "Vishaka!"

Taking that as a cue, Vishaka shakes her head as she walks over to Saara. "Dude, these guys let us wear jeans. We could have it worse."

Curious, Saara folds her arms across her chest. "Worse how?"

"Aliya could've forced us into dresses."

"Alright, we look great, let's go!" With that, Saara tries to sneak away with a pair of Taani's sneakers, which Sharon immediately snatches from her hands.

"Oh no you don't! We're all wearing heels, therefore, so are you. Go back to the other room and borrow Rinni's shoes."

Saara groans as Vishaka lightly pats her on the shoulder. Heading into the other room, Rinni was more than happy to lend Saara and Vishaka a pair of her shoes, and luckily, they were all the same size.

" _This_ is what you call sensible?" demands Saara, struggling to walk in the death trap that was Rinni's shoes.

"Trust me, it's as sensible as heels get," says Vishaka.

"Hey, at least you're wearing heeled boots instead of actual heels," Simmi points out helpfully.

"I am so going to have blisters!" complains Saara.

"Beauty is pain hon," says Aliya, putting her arm around her friend as the girls walk out of the room.

When the girls arrive downstairs, they see that only Varun, Bharat and Amar are ready.

"Oh, so those idiots complain about us girls taking forever, when they're not even ready yet!" exclaims Sharon.

"I know right!" shouts Vishaka.

"Such hypocrites," adds Taani.

Varun, Bharat and Amar slap their foreheads and remind themselves to kill the other guys.

Suddenly, Varun sees Saara, really sees Saara, and remarks, "What the hell happened to you?"

"Laugh and I'll destroy you." Varun doesn't seem fazed by her threat, or her death glare.

"Why do actually look like a girl?" he asks. The other girls join Saara in glaring at Varun after that comment.

"What? The girl's wearing heels! Saara Dutta is wearing heels!"

"We get it! Ugh, how am I supposed dance in these?"

"Like this." Before Saara can even comprehend what Varun had just said, he grabs her hand, swiftly moving his feet as she tries to follow along with her heels shoes she could barely walk in.

"Alright alright, I get the point!" Saara laughs wholeheartedly as Varun spins her.

"Good," says Varun, letting go of her.

Due to being spun around for so long, Saara gets slightly dizzy and stumbles, but a strong pair of arms prevent of her from falling. And who is the owner of these strong arms? Why Saara's best-friend Karan of course!

"You okay?" Saara smiles, still giddy after Varun had spun her around, and nods. Karan looks at her strangely, then glares at Varun. "Let's go guys, a full night dance, drinks and loud music awaits."

* * *

 **A/N: Yay, lots of fun stuff - cough, drama, cough - awaits! Aliya, Saara and Karan are all my OCs. I imagine Alia Bhatt as Aliya, but Krissann Barretto could work too. Mohena Kumari Singh is the first person who comes to mind when I think of Saara, but she's not the same Saara as in the show, she's a character that I came up with so... oh, and Samridh Bawa gives me major Karan vibes, mainly because I have such a huge crush on him, how can you not?!**


	4. Oh What A Night!

**Saavi: Thanks, glad you liked it!**

 **A/N: Fair warning, new character being introduced here, and Varun Dhawan is literally my go to person for this guy.**

* * *

Once everyone arrives at club, Karan immediately goes up to the bouncer and tells him to let them in. Once they're in the club, four guys come up to them. Karan cringes when he sees them.

"Karan, won't you introduce us to your friends?" asks the one who seems to be the oldest - tall, dark and evil glint in his eyes.

"Of course bhai." Karan rolls his eyes. "Guys, this is my oldest brother Kunal, who owns this club," he barely spares his eldest brother a glance, "this is Kartik, my other older brother, and my personal favorite," Kartik smiles brightly at his younger brother like the dork that he is, "that's Keshav, my younger brother," Keshav smiles shyly at everyone, desperately wanting to go back into his room and read in solitude, "and there's Kabir, the baby of the family, aka, a colossal brat."

"I'm not a baby!" protests the thirteen year-old boy, sticking his tongue out at his older brother.

"Whatever you say kiddo," drawls Saara, ruffling his hair.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" asks Varun, raising an eyebrow.

Karan laughs. "Varun, I think I finally like you."

Kabir marches away in huff as his brother's, despite his dramatics, go after him.

"Your brothers seem interesting," remarks Sharon.

"Oh, you don't the half of it. Now come on, let's party!"

It doesn't take long for everyone to get lost in the music. Vicky and Neha and Rinni and Amar were happy and lost in their own little world of love. The girls and Bharat were having a blast, while Rey was brooding - for reasons unknown - as Nilesh tried to cheer him up, and maybe get him to reveal what the hell was wrong with him. Karan and Varun on the other hand, were sitting by the bar, with Karan taking a page out of Rey's book, as Varun, unlike Nilesh, did absolutely nothing to help him, preferring to antagonize him instead.

"My brother's a pig," groans Karan.

"Can't argue with that," remarks Varun, taking a sip of his drink.

"Look at him! The second he sees a cute girl in heels, he's all over her. Never mind that he's watched her grow up and she thinks of him as an older brother because obviously that all goes out the window because Saara's suddenly gorgeous. The level of his shallowness, honestly, he's worse than a kiddie pool."

Varun merely wiggles his eyebrows teasingly when Karan finally stops ranting and turns to him.

"Cute girl huh?"

Karan's cheeks turn slightly pink as he lets out a soft groan. "Of course! How could I forget that I'm talking to Varun 'one-track mind' Mittal."

"Hey, I take offense to that."

"At least you're not as bad as Kunal! Sure you're a total player, but you're not a heart breaker, you know your limits, and you take responsibility for your actions. Plus, your habits have kind of died down. My brother on the other hand, is a complete and utter moron who doesn't deserve to have a nice, wonderful girl take a liking to him."

"Whoa, are you two actually having a civilized conversation?" asks Swayam, walking up to his best-friends, causing them to turn their attention towards him as he sits on the barstool next to Karan. They give him a look that makes him add, "Sorry, bad joke."

"No shit Einstein," mutters Karan.

"What's up his ass?" asks Swayam.

"Kunal, who else?"

"Okay come on, Kunal is not that bad."

"Think again Romeo." Karan points in the direction of the dance floor, leading Swayam to land his eyes on Kunal, now dancing with not only Saara, but also his sister and Sharon.

"I'm gonna' kill him if he thinks he can turn any of them into one of his usual girls," growls Swayam, in calmest tone that makes shivers go up your spine. Karan and Varun look at each other when Swayam says this, and Karan lightly kicks Swayam's chair so it rolls their usually sweet and lovable best-friend away from them.

"I'm just glad Yuvi isn't here," whispers Varun.

"I know right. We'd be bailing him out of jail by now if he was here."

"Where is he anyway?"

"I don't know, he didn't say."

Varun's eyes widen when a terrifying thought takes place in his brain. "You don't think -" he begins to say, but Karan cuts him, already knowing where he was gettin at.

"No way! He told us he was done with that, right?"

* * *

"3, 2, 1!" chants the crowd, waiting to see if the fighter is going to get up or not.

And he didn't.

"Yuvraj Ambolkar wins again!" exclaims the referee.

"Woo!" shouts the majority of the crowd.

Yuvraj smirks as he gets out of the rink. You think as fighter, the boy would have razor sharp instincts, but no. Instead, he jumps when his phone rings. He looks at the caller ID, and starts sweating. He accepts the call and nervously says, "Hi Aliya."

"Yuvi, hi! Are you still in Dehradun?"

"Hi."

"You said that already." He was hiding something, Aliya knew it.

"Whoops."

"Yuvraj," Aliya keeps her voice deadly calm, "are you hiding something from me?"

"No."

"You're lying, Yuvi."

Yuvraj was no fool. He already screwed up by lying, he wasn't about to screw things up more by denying it. Sighing, he gives in and tell her the truth, slowly, carefully choosing the right thing to say.

Except there was no right thing to say.

"We agreed you'd stop this Yuvi!" shouts Aliya, so loud that Yuvraj had to move the phone a good one arm distance away to protect his eardrums.

"I know, I'm sorry. Al, it was just this once, I promise! Please don't tell the others."

"Fine!" Aliya immediately hangs up, causing Yuvi to run his fingers through his hair in frustration, with every intention to tear his hair out.

"Shit."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the club, Aliya glares at the bartender, and he immediately knows to hand her the entire bottle of vodka. No questions asked, no money taken; just hand her the vodka and avert your eyes. Aliya gulps the whole thing down and slams the bottle on the counter. She glares at the bartender, and he hands another three bottles, hoping that there's enough to keep this hurricane of a woman satisfied.

From afar, Karan sees his friend harassing the poor bartender. He turns to Varun and asks, "What is wrong with your sister?"

Varun looks to where Karan was, and his eyes go wide. "I'm gonna' kill Yuvi."

"And Swayam and I are going to kill Kunal. We can all go to jail together!"

"Are you both drunk and high?" Rey asks Karan, sitting on the bar stool beside Varun.

"Nah, I'm always like this."

"So you're always drunk and high?"

Karan rolls his eyes, but Varun bursts out laughing. "Rey, I think I actually like you."

"So you hated me before?"

"Nah, Anya just constantly bitches about you like it's her job. What's up with that anyway?"

"We've hated each other since childbirth. Literally. I think our mothers put us in the same crib once, and she scratched me. Of course I bit her back, but that's not the point."

"You know, that might be an interesting story to tell your grand-kids one day," muses Karan.

"Are you kidding? These stories are going to be passed down for generations!" exclaims Rey, then turning his attention to a fuming Swayam. "What do you think Swayam?"

Swayam was gripping his glass so hard that the boys were sure that it might break. They all look at one another nervously, as Rey slowly goes up to Swayam, taking his glass away, as Varun and Karan subtly pin him down so he doesn't fly off the handle - which, contrary to popular belief, is possible.

"Okay buddy, would it make you feel better if I danced with Sharon instead?" asks Rey.

Swayam sends him a deadly glance, not because he was mad Rey, just because he was mad in general and that was his face now. Rey takes the hint, and makes his way towards the dance floor to get Sharon away from Karan's sketchy older brother.

Varun, taking a page out of Rey's book, turns to Karan. "Alright, I'll get your girlfriend away from that thing you unfortunately have to call a brother." \

As Varun walks away, Karan yells after him. "She's not my girlfriend!" A moment later, he realizes what else Varun said and screams, "And wait, what?!"

Meanwhile, Rey was trying to be a good friend, but Sharon was having none of it.

"Sorry, I need to borrow Sharon," he says, dragging Sharon away from Kunal, who merely shrugs because Taani and Saara were still there.

"What was that?" demands Sharon.

"That was me trying to make sure your loverboy over there doesn't explode and/or have an aneurysm. Also, maybe I didn't want Karan's skeevy older brother taking advantage of you, and as smart as you normally are, you my friend happen to lose your head when it comes to boys."

"Huh?" is all Sharon says. Rey was saying to many things when they should be dancing. This is not what she signed up for!

"Sharon! Ugh, you are so clueless sometimes!" Sharon's jaw drops to the floor at what she hears. She crushes her sparkly gold heel into Rey's toes furiously. "What the hell Sharon?" He bites back the urge to yelp in pain and hop on one foot like a crazy person.

"That was for saying I'm clueless."

Rey simply rolls his eyes. "The things I do for that curly haired freak."

And then he actually yelps in pain. He glares at Sharon, who just dug her other heel into his other set of toes.

"What did I do now?"

"You called my boyfriend a curly haired freak! You totally deserved that!"

Rey groans and thinks very bad thoughts about his two best-friends - none whatsoever involving their death, of course, but bad thoughts nonetheless - and then thanks Krishnaji for not making Sharon a mindreader.

As Rey suffers from crushed toes, Varun is currently in a similar situation. Except he's suffering from bruised shins. How did this start again? Oh right. Varun went up to Saara and said, "Hey dork, I gotta' talk to you," before taking her away from Kunal as Taani informed that she will not be driving him to the hospital if things go awry.

That's how he earned that first kick in his shin. "Ow!" he screams at the top of his lungs, burning a hole through Saara's skull.

"That's what you get for calling me a dork. Now tell me what you want Casanova."

"Hey, I'm just doing this so your boyfriend doesn't kill his brother out of jealousy."

"My what?"

Varun rolls his eyes at her denseness. "Your Karan."

"What are you talking about?"

Varun sighs dramatically, refraining from face palming himself. "Just look at him. He's beyond pissed off right now. And I think he looks even more pissed now that I'm dancing with you."

Saara scoffs in disbelief. "He's just being protective."

"Or maybe you just don't want to get your hopes up."

Saara's cool, confident demeanor falters immediately as she mutters, "Let me go Mittal."

"Not just yet Rapunzel."

And that's how he got that other kick in his shin.

"Would ya' stop doing that?!"

"I don't know, would you stop being a major pain in my ass and actually listen to me for once?"

"Girl, have you even met me?" Saara groans, regretting not bending his thumb backwards and pulling at his hair, as Varun drags her over to more or less the centre of the dance floor, just as an upbeat salsa beat starts playing.

"What are you doing?"

"Sleeping," drawls Varun, causing Saara to glare at him. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm dancing. Try and keep up, _Rapunzel_."

Saara wanted to slap that cocky grin off his face so badly, but instead, she mimics Varun's cocky smirk, looking him dead in the eyes. "You're the one that needs to keep up, _Mittal_."

Meanwhile, Karan - for reasons unknown to him, but known to basically everyone - was not amused. "I don't know what's worse, Saara dancing with Kunal, or Saara dancing with Mittal." He looks at the two frenemies once again and growls, "Definitely Mittal!" He then turns to Swayam and asks, "Are you even listening to me?" But Swayam just flat out ignores him and keeps his eyes glued to Sharon. "Guess not."

He then turns to look at the other side of the bar where Aliya was currently on her sixth bottle of vodka. He sighs as he walks over to his drunken mess of a best-friend.

"You know, drinking your problems away isn't healthy. I mean, it didn't work for Aditya Roy Kapoor in Aashiqui 2. Or Devdas. You should know that Miss Filmy."

"Shut up."

As the bartender hands Aliya another bottle, Karan grabs before she can even blink.

"Give it back!"

"No." Karan gulps down the vodka, just to piss her off.

Aliya groans. "Why can't you let me drink my sorrows away you buzzkill?"

Karan puts the bottle down and looks at Aliya intently, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong Angel?"

Aliya sighs, knowing that if she looked at Karan any longer, she'd give in and spill her guts.

Not what she was here for.

"Nothing. Come on, let's dance!" She drags him to the dance floor, despite his protests, and they start to dance. Well, Aliya dances, and Karan makes sure she doesn't fall and hurt herself.

Meanwhile with Swayam, he continues to glare at Rey, knowing he brought this on himself.

Simmi and Nilesh walk over to him. "What's up Swayam?" asks Nilesh, but Swayam clearly does not give a damn.

He turns to Simmi and says, "Simmi, let's dance."

"What?"

"Dance with me."

"I'm sorry, but I don't want my best-friend murdering me tonight." Swayam chuckles, and Simmi can tell he's drunk. If sober Swayam was teddy bear, then drunk Swayam was python.

"I'll take care of her." Swayam grabs Simmi's hand and drags her to the dance floor before she can react... or before Nilesh can clobber him. But before heading there, he turns back to Nilesh and requests, "Hey Nil, do me a favor and dance with my sister. I trust Shivam more than I trust Kunal, enough said." Nilesh nods his head, and heads to the dance floor.

"Hi, can I steal Taani away from you? Thanks." Nilesh doesn't even bother getting an answer as he takes Taani away fro Kunal's clutches, having him go from three dance partners, to none.

Taani turns to Nilesh and smiles. "Thanks. Sorry about bhai, I know he put you up to this."

Nilesh smiles back. "No problem. By the way, do you know why Rey looks like he's about to pounce on me?"

"Um, I'm not quite sure." Taani can usually tell when Rey's upset, although sometimes it's hard for her to figure out the reason behind his sour mood.

"Eh, he's probably jealous."

Taani's eyes look like they were about to bulge out of their sockets at Nilesh's comment. "Excuse me?"

Nilesh simply shakes his head. "Oh please Taani, everyone can see it! Rey likes you, and you've started to like him too, don't you dare deny it!" Taani sighs, knowing that there was no point in arguing with Nilesh, and keeps dancing.

Rey on the other hand was trying really hard not to show how upset he was at seeing Taani dancing with Nilesh. Sharon notices her best-friend's anger and says, "Rey, stop staring at Taani, you'll scare the poor girl."

Rey turns his attention back to Sharon. "I'm not staring." Sharon gives him a look, and Rey mumbles, "Okay fine, maybe I was staring a little."

"A little? Nil looks ready to pee his pants."

"Whatever."

"Well on the bright side, looks like Taani's leaving the dance floor."

"What?" demands Rey, his worry kicking his anger to the curb.

"She's heading to the bar, and she just downed three shots. Wait no, five."

"Crap!" hisses Rey, immediately making his way towards Taani, leaving Sharon alone on the dance floor.

Sharon's jaw drops on the floor for the second time that night as she sees her best-friend leave. She's about to follow him when a familiar hand grips her wrist. She turns around and sees Swayam.

"Hi."

"Hey. Where's Simmi?"

"I don't know."

Sharon lets out an exasperated sigh. "Swayam, babe, are you drunk?"

"No."

"Yup, he's drunk," Sharon mutters to herself as she tries to drag Swayam off the dance floor, and back towards the bar.

"Rey, this one's drunk."

"So is his sister," says Rey, pointing to the wide-eyed, smiling Taani.

"And so is this girl." Rey and Sharon turn to find Karan with a squirming Aliya in his arms.

"Simmi's drunk too," says Nilesh, walking over to the bar with said drunk in tow. "I'll go find the others so we can leave."

Five minutes later, a mortified Nilesh is back with Amar, Rinni, Vicky and Neha in tow.

"I am never going looking for them again!"

"Noted," says Sharon, trying to get that image out of her mind.

"So is everyone here?" asks Karan.

"No, Varun and Saara aren't here," Vishaka - who, along with Bharat, had met up with them after an urgent text from Sharon - points out.

"Look, they're still on the dance floor," Bharat informs them. Karan snaps his head towards the dance floor, and sees Saara and Varun, still there, and still dancing as if they don't have a care in the world.

Karan marches over to them in three quick strides, coughing to get their attention before he declares, "Time to go guys."

Saara and Varun look at each other, and follow Karan to the bar. Once they reach the bar, Rey says, "Okay, Karan can take Aliya, Saara, Taani and Varun in Aliya's car. I'll take Swayam and the other guys in my car. And then Sharon you can take Simmi and the other girls in your car."

Everyone nods, heading to their respective cars as Saara bitches about being in the backseat with a drunk Aliya and Taani, not looking forward to the projectile vomit that was about to hit her, while the boys lost Swayam twice before getting him into the car, and Simmi, trained in martial arts and kick your ass to Mars and back Simmi, had Sharon threaten to run her over before she finally rolled her eyes and got in the car.

Oh what a night!


End file.
